Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 45.2 > Subtitle V > Chapter 21 > Article 1 - General Provisions

• Abandoned: means no longer in service and physically disconnected from a portion of the underground utility line that is in use for storage or conveyance of service. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Authority: means the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority established pursuant to this chapter. See Virginia Code 45.2-2100
• Board: means the board of directors of the Authority. See Virginia Code 45.2-2100
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 56-1
• Consortium: means the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium established by the Authority pursuant to § 45. See Virginia Code 45.2-2100
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contract locator: means any person contracted by an operator specifically to determine the approximate horizontal location of the operator's utility lines that may exist within the area specified by a locate request. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• demolition: means any operation by which a structure or mass of material is wrecked, razed, rendered, moved, or removed by means of any tools, equipment, or discharge of explosives which could damage underground utility lines. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Designer: means any licensed professional designated by the project owner who designs government projects, commercial projects, residential projects consisting of 25 or more units, or industrial projects, which projects require the approval of governmental or regulatory authorities having jurisdiction over the project area. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Emergency: means a sudden or unexpected occurrence involving a clear and imminent danger, demanding immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life, health, property, or essential public services. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• excavation: means any operation in which earth, rock, or other material in the ground is moved, removed, or otherwise displaced by means of any tools, equipment, or explosives and includes, without limitation, grading, trenching, digging, ditching, dredging, drilling, augering, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing and driving, wrecking, razing, rendering, moving, or removing any structure or mass of material. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Exigent circumstances: means circumstances outside of an operator's or contract locator's, as described in subsection D of § 56-265. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Locate request: means the completed delivery of information to the notification center requesting markings for a specified area of excavation or demolition and receipt of the same by the notification center in accordance with this chapter. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Member: means a member of the Consortium. See Virginia Code 45.2-2100
• notification: means the completed delivery of information to the person to be notified, and the receipt of same by such person in accordance with this chapter. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Notification center: means an organization whose membership is open to all operators of underground facilities located within the notification center's designated service area, which maintains a data base, provided by its member operators, that includes the geographic areas in which its member operators desire transmissions of notices of proposed excavation, and which has the capability to transmit, within one hour of receipt, notices of proposed excavation to member operators by electronic means. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Operator: means any person who owns, furnishes or transports materials or services by means of a utility line. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means any individual, operator, firm, joint venture, partnership, corporation, association, municipality, or other political subdivision, governmental unit, department or agency, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Positive response: means a code or phrase posted by an operator or locator to the notification center detailing the marking status of a locate request. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Positive response system: means the excavator-operator information exchange system that is required by subsection E of § 56-265. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Utility line: means any item of public or private property which is buried or placed below ground or submerged for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of water, sewage, telecommunications, electric energy, cable television, oil, petroleum products, gas, or other substances, and includes pipes, sewers, combination storm/sanitary sewer systems, conduits, cables, valves, lines, wires, manholes, attachments, and those portions of poles below ground. See Virginia Code 56-265.15
• Working day: means every day, except Saturdays, Sundays, and legal state and national holidays. See Virginia Code 56-265.15